This invention relates generally to oil and gas exploration, and in particular to isolating certain subterranean zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration.
During oil exploration, a wellbore typically traverses a number of zones within a subterranean formation. Some of these subterranean zones will produce oil and gas, while others will not. Further, it is often necessary to isolate subterranean zones from one another in order to facilitate the exploration for and production of oil and gas. Existing methods for isolating subterranean production zones in order to facilitate the exploration for and production of oil and gas are complex and expensive.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations of the existing processes for isolating subterranean zones during oil and gas exploration.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided that includes one or more solid tubular members, each solid tubular member including one or more external seals, one or more slotted tubular members coupled to the solid tubular members, a shoe coupled to one of the slotted tubular members, and one or more packers positioned within one or more of the tubular members. Each packer includes a radially expanded tubular member and one or more sealing members coupled to the outer surface of the radially expanded tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided that includes one or more primary solid tubulars, each primary solid tubular including one or more external annular seals, n slotted tubulars coupled to the primary solid tubulars, n-1 intermediate solid tubulars coupled to and interleaved among the slotted tubulars, each intermediate solid tubular including one or more external annular seals, a shoe coupled to one of the slotted tubulars, and one or more packers positioned within one or more of the tubulars. Each packer includes a radially expanded tubular member and one or more sealing members coupled to the outer surface of the radially expanded tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of isolating a first subterranean zone from a second subterranean zone in a wellbore is provided that includes positioning one or more primary solid tubulars within the wellbore, the primary solid tubulars traversing the first subterranean zone, positioning one or more slotted tubulars within the wellbore, the slotted tubulars traversing the second subterranean zone, fluidicly coupling the slotted tubulars and the solid tubulars, preventing the passage of fluids from the first subterranean zone to the second subterranean zone within the wellbore external to the solid and slotted tubulars and fluidicly isolating one or more annular regions within one or more of the tubulars by the process of: positioning an expandable tubular member having one or more sealing members within the tubular, and radially expanding the expandable tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of extracting materials from a producing subterranean zone in a wellbore, at least a portion of the wellbore including a casing, is provided that includes positioning one or more primary solid tubulars within the wellbore, fluidicly coupling the primary solid tubulars with the casing, positioning one or more slotted tubulars within the wellbore, the slotted tubulars traversing the producing subterranean zone, fluidicly coupling the slotted tubulars with the solid tubulars, fluidicly isolating the producing subterranean zone from at least one other subterranean zone within the wellbore, fluidicly coupling at least one of the slotted tubulars with the producing subterranean zone, and fluidicly isolating one or more annular regions within one or more of the tubulars by the process of: positioning an expandable tubular member having one or more sealing members within the tubular, and radially expanding the expandable tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for fluidicly isolating annular sections within a wellbore casing is provided that includes an expandable tubular member adapted to be positioned within the wellbore casing, one or more sealing members coupled to an outside surface of the expandable tubular member, and an expansion cone movably coupled to the expandable tubular member adapted to radially expand the expandable tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of fluidicly isolating annular sections within a wellbore casing is provided that includes positioning an expandable tubular member having one or more outer sealing members and an expansion cone within the wellbore casing, and axially displacing the expansion cone relative to the expandable tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of fluidicly isolating an annular section of a wellbore casing including a collapsed section is provided that includes positioning an expandable tubular member having one or more outer sealing members and an expansion cone within the wellbore casing, moving at least a portion of the expandable tubular member through the collapsed section of the wellbore casing, and axially displacing the expansion cone relative to the expandable tubular member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a packer for sealing an annular region between the packer and a wellbore casing is provided that includes a radially expanded tubular member, and one or more sealing members coupled to the outer surface of the radially expanded tubular member for sealing the annular region between the radially expanded tubular member and the wellbore casing.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of operating a packer including an expandable tubular member and an annular sealing member coupled to the exterior of the expandable tubular member has been provided that includes positioning the packer within a subterranean borehole, and radially expanding the expandable tubular member using an expansion cone.